O'Horten

Norway 2007, 90 minutes
Dir. Bent Hamer
In Norwegian with English subtitles
Genres: Foreign Cinema, Comedy, Drama / Trainspotter

Topics: Late-life.

Feat. Baard Owe, Ghita Norby

Aroview: The director of KITCHEN STORIES follows up with another comic delicacy about a 67-year-old engineer and his oddly challenging quest to adapt to the freedoms of retirement.

The engagingly benign senior has a will to do-the-right-thing that lands him in misadventure, and he becomes a fish-out-of-water when not constrained by the rigid schedule and discipline of the workday. The it's-never-too-late theme is filtered through that Scandanavian brand of gentle absurdism, and though modest in scale, has uplift and pathos to spare.

NZ International Film Festival 2008